Scientific Games on Wednesday announced it has withdrawn its all-stock offer to acquire the remaining 19 percent equity interest in SciPlay that it doesn’t own.
The company back in July offered to merge with SciPlay in a transaction that would have seen SciPlay shareholders receive 0.25 of an SG share in exchange for every stock they own, and was set to create a combined company with a market value of around $7 billion.
SG said it will now retain its 81 percent economic interest and 98 percent voting interest in SciPlay.
“In line with our approach to capital management and disciplined M&A we have decided that continuing to pursue this opportunity would not be prudent for our shareholders at this time,” said Barry Cottle, president and chief executive officer of Scientific Games.
“We remain committed to our strategy of leveraging our unparalleled portfolio of hit franchises, world-class talent and premium content engine to develop great games fully cross-platform.
SciPlay remains a strategic asset and has the opportunity to drive meaningful value as it grows its social casino market share and expands into the $20B casual genre leveraging its expertise in engagement and monetization.
We will continue to invest in this sector in a disciplined manner. Importantly, as we advance our strategy, we will continue to take a holistic approach to capital management as we focus on allocating capital to drive growth in earnings per share.”
Scientific Games recently announced the sales of its Lottery and Sports Betting businesses for approximately $7 billion in transactions that are on track to close in the second quarter of 2022.
